Pressure dispenser attachment



May 9, S

PRESSURE DI SPENSER ATTACHMENT Filed June 30, 1965 III II.- I u MIVEWIO/F [aw/A :2 H 90;

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United States Patent 3,318,492 PRESSURE DISPENSER ATTACHMENT Edwin J. Haas, 18796 Bernice Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44135 Filed June 30, 1965, Ser. No. 468,509 7 Claims. (Cl. 222-40211) This invention relates to an attachment for a pressurized dispensing can of the type used for dispensing shaving cream, whipped confections, and various liquids.

The general object of the invention is to provide a simple attachment for a well-known type of pressurized dispensing can, said attachment affording improved means for manipulating and operating the dispensing nozzle of the can and for preventing accidental discharge of the contents thereof.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide an attachment for mounting on the nozzle of the can, said attachment having a radiating flange which can be manipulated by one finger of the user to adjust the rate of flow from the can and to actuate the nozzle.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an attachment having means for locking the nozzle against accidental discharge of the contents of the can.

Still another object is to provide such locking means in the form of a depending collar having a resilient annulus on its bottom edge for seating against the top of the can.

Other objects of the invention and a number of its advantages will be readily apparent from the following description of one embodiment of the invention. Reference is made throughout the description to the accompanying drawings illustrating one exemplary form of the invention.

FIG. 1 of the drawings is a partial longitudinal section through a pressurized dispensing can showing the attachment of this invention mounted thereto in the locked position.

FIG. 2 is an elevation of a top portion of the can, the attachment being shown in section and in the unlocked position.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the attachment in the actuated position by pressing one direction on said attachment.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the attachment in the actuated position by pressing another direc tion on said attachment.

FIG. 5 is a section taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the pressure dispenser attachment of this invention.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, the attachment of this invention is shown generally at 10 assembled with a pressurized dispensing can 11. The can 11 has a diametrically reduced, upper end portion 12 having a flat, upper end wall 13. The can 11 is of conventional cylindrical shape being also provided with an enclosing bottom end wall 14.

The upper end wall 13 has a central opening 15 surrounded by an upstanding collar 16. A resilient valve seat member 17 is disposed within the can 11 just below the upper end wall 13, said member having an upstanding collar 18 which projects upwardly through the opening 15 and fits tightly within the collar 16. Said collar 18 has a radiating flange 19 which is disposed just above the upper edge of the collar 16 thereby retaining the valve seat member 17 up against the bottom surface of the upper end wall 13.

Within the can 11, the valve seat member 17 is provided with a downwardly open recess 20 and an annular valve seat 21 formed in the bottom of said recess. The bottom edge of the valve seat member 17 at the outer edge of the recess 20 is provided with a connector 22 which carries a depending tube 23. The tube 23 extends down wardly substantially to the bottom end wall 14 and provides passage means for the material being dispensed to pass upwardly into the recess 20, past the valve seat 21, and outwardly of the container through a nozzle 25.

The nozzle 25 is generally tubular in form having, however, a valve 26 enclosing its lower end and extending radially a sutficient distance to overlap and abut the valve seat 21. Radiating passages 27 disposed through the wall of the nozzle 25 just above the valve 26 allow the material being dispensed to pass into said nozzle to move upwardly and out of the upper open end thereof. A radiating fiange 28 is carried by the nozzle 25 just above the collar 18 whereby said collar is under suificient compression to ordinarily hold the valve 26 up against the valve seat 21. Above said flange 28, the nozzle 25 is provided with external threads 29 in a well-known manner for receiving a conventional cap or cover (not herein illustrated) for protection of and for covering said nozzle. The attachment of this invention obviates the need for such a protective cover.

The nozzle 25 may be made of any suitable nonflexible material such as a rigid plastic. The valve seat member 17, on the other hand, is made of a resilient material such as rubber. It will be readily understood that when the nozzle 25 is tilted out of its coaxial relationship with the can 11 and the valve seat member 17, the valve 26 will separate from the valve seat 21 in some area adjacent to its outer edge thereby allowing the pressurized contents of the can to move upwardly through the tube 23, through the connector 22, past the valve seat 21, through the passages 27, and outwardly through the tubular nozzle 25.

The attachment 1!! is also made of a suitable nonfiexible material such as a rigid plastic and comprises a disk shaped body portion 39 which is internally threaded to engage the threads 29 of the nozzle 25. Said body portion 3% has a short, upstanding collar 31 which closely surrounds the upper end of the nozzle 25. Adjacent to the outer edge of the body portion 39, there is provided an integral, depending collar 32 of such diameter as to be spaced radially outwardly from the collar 18 of the valve seat member 17. The outer edge of said body portion is also provided with a circumferentially continuous, radiating flange 33 which extends outwardly a substantial distance beyond the collar 32. As seen in FIG. 3, the flange 33 gives good leverage for tilting the nozzle. The bottom edge of the depending collar 32 carries a resilient annulus 34 which bears against the upper end wall 13 when said attachment is screwed downwardly thereby affording a dependable frictional resistance to loosening of said attachment without the necessity of tightening it to any great extent. Without the resilient annulus 34, it would be necessary to tighten the collar 32 quite firmly against the upper end wall 13 or provide serrations or teeth in the bottom end of said collar 32 to cause it to bite firmly into said upper end wall. This would result in the attachment being difficult to remove and manipulate in the manner intended and herein later fully described.

The annulus 34 may be bonded to the bottom edge of the collar 32 by a suitable adhesive if desired, or it may be provided with an upstanding, circumferential neck such as that shown at 35. Said neck, as herein illustrated, is provided with a plurality of radially inwardly directed recesses 36 which receive complementary lugs 37 carried at the inner peripheral surface of the collar 32. With this arrangement, the annulus 34 may be simply pressed or snapped into place, the recesses 36 and the lugs 37 interengaging to hold said annulus against the lower edge of the collar 32 and to prevent its rotation with respect to said depending collar.

As is shown in FIG. 1, the upwardly directed collar 31 of the attachment 10 preferably terminates below the upper end of the nozzle 25 when said nozzle is turned down 23 all the way to the locked position as shown in FIG. 1. A small protective cap, shown in broken line at 38, may be provided over the upwardly projecting portion of the nozzle 25 to prevent contamination of the can prior to its purchase and use. The cap 38 extends downwardly against the upper end of the coliar 31 and is preferably a tight, force fit. Removal of the cap 38 may be easily effected by simply rotating the attachment it) in the counterclockwise direction as though removing it from the nozzle 25 whereby the collar 31 moves upwardly and pushes said cap off.

In use of the pressure dispenser attachment of this invention, said attachment is turned downwardly until the annulus 34 seats upon the upper end wall 13 when the can is not in use. With the attachment in this position, the nozzle cannot be tilted beyond the very small amount allowed by the resilient annulus 34 and not sufliciently to discharge the contents of the can. If, therefore, the can is accidentally knocked over or the attachment 10-is inadvertently struck, the nozzle 25 will not be actuated.

To dispense the contents from the can 11, the attachment is backed off or unscrewed by rotation thereof'in a counterclockwise direction; This is simply and easily effected by holding the can in one hand and rotating the radiating flange 33 with the thumb or one finger of the same hand. The amount of tilt afforded the nozzle 25, and, therefore, the rate of discharge of the contents of the can, depends upon how far the attachment 1% is backed 01f. Thus, the user can regulate the rate of flow with one hand by the amount that he unscrews the at- "one hand, by simplypushing upwardly at any peripheral point on the flange 33 as illustrated in FIG. 3 or by pulling downwardly at any peripheral point on said flange as ,illustrated in FIG. 4. At no time during the use of the pressure dispenser attachment of this invention need the foperator use more than one hand, and the dispensing can is equally easily operated regardless of from what direction the user grasps said can.

As 'hereinbefore noted, the inherent resilience of the annulus 34 allows some slight tilt of the attachment 10 when said annulus is compressed. Therefore, when the attachment is backed off to approximately the desired position to obtain the rate of flow needed, a slightly increased rate of flow may be effected without further rotation of said attachment by applying an increased pressure to the periphery of said flange.

It will be understood that many changes in the details of the invention as herein described and illustrated may be made without, however, departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims. 7

What is claimed is: v

1. An attachment for a pressurized dispensing can hav ing a fiat wall and a threaded nozzle projecting through i said wall, the nozzle being tiltable to dispense the contents of said can, said attachment comprising a body portion thread fitted coaxially upon said nozzle and spaced from 'said wall; said body portion having a coaxial collar pro jecting in the direction of said wall and adjustable toward and away from said wall by turning said thread fitted body portion whereby said collar is movable into contact with said wall to prevent any tilting of the nozzle and is adjustable away from said wall to control the rate of flow from said nozzle; and a resilient annulus carried by the lower edge of said collar.

2. An attachment as set forth in claim 1; said annulus having a neck portion projecting into said collar; said collar and said neck portion having interfitting projection and recess means for retaining said annulus against said edge and preventing rotation of said annulus relative to said collar.

V 3. An attachment for a pressurized dispensing can having a flat wall and a resiliently mounted, elongated nozzle projecting outwardly through the wall, the nozzle a being tiltable to dispense the contents of the can and having a threaded portion disposed outwardly of the can, said attachment comprising a disk shaped body portion coaxially thread fitted to said nozzle; a circumferentially continuous, radiating flange projecting outwardly from said body portion for manually rotating said attachment to move said attachment toward and away from said wall and for tilting said nozzle; said body portion having acol-' lar projecting in the direction of said wall for seating on said wall to lock said nozzle against tilting movement, H

ing a collar having an end edge adapted to seat against said flat bearing surface; means for retaining said collar seated against said flat bearing surface; a resilient annulus carried by said edge of said collar; said annulus having a neck portion projecting into. said collar; and said collar and said neck portion having interfitting projection and recess means for retaining said annulus against said edge. 7

i 5. Seating means for seating afirst'member with re-.

spect to a second member; said first member having means defining a flat bearing surface; said second memher having a collar havingan end edge adapted to seat against said flat bearing surface; means for retaining said collar seated against said flat bearing surface; a resilient annulus carried by said edge of said collar; said annulus having a neck portion projecting into said collar; said neck portion having means defining a plurality of radially outwardly opening recesses therein; and said collar having radially inwardly directed lug s engaging said recesses for retaining said annulus against said edge.

6. An attachment for a pressurized dispensing'can having a flat top Wall and a threaded nozzle projecting through 1 said wall, the nozzle being tiltable to dispense the contents of said can, said attachment comprising a body portion thread fitted co-axially upon said nozzle and spaced from said wall; said body portion having a coaxial generally cylindrical collar projecting in the direction of said wall and adjustable toward and away from said wall by turn-: ing said thread fitted body'por'tion whereby said collar is;

movable into contact with said wall to prevent any tilting of the nozzle and is adjustable away from said wall to control the rate of flow from' said nozzle; and said body portion'having at its upper end extending radially outwardly "beyond said collar a continuous circular flange spaced from said flat top wall sutficiently to enable the entry of the fingers of a user beneath said flange in all positions of saidbody portion, whereby a user may control the tilting of said nozzle by manipulation ofsaid 1 flange at any point on its circumference and such manipulation is easier because of the leverage provided by said flange. I

7. An attachment for a pressurized dispensing can having a flat wall and a threadednozzle projecting through said wall, the nozzle being tiltable to dispense the contents of said can, said attachment comprising a body portion threaded fitted coaxially upon said nozzle and spaced from said wall; said body portion having a coaxial collar projecting in the direction of said wall and adjustable toward and away from said wall by turning said thread fitted body portion whereby said collar is movable into contact with said wall to prevent any tilting of the nozzle and is adjustable away from said wall to' control the rate of flow from said nozzle; said nozzle extending above said body portion when said collar contacts said flat top wall; and an imperforate closure cap having a tight force fit 5 6 on said nozzle extension and extending into engagement 2,766,913 10/1956 Wilshusen 222-394 with said body portion, whereby said cap may be removed 3,061,341 10/ 1962 Grzych et 211. by rnovement of said body portion on its threaded con- 3,062,417 11/1962 Sulliva et 1, 222-394 nectlon with said nozzle. 3,169,672 2/ 1965 Sofier et a1 222394 X 5 ef c s Cited y the Examiner 3,214,063 10/1965 Wallis 222 394 X UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 2,662,669 12/1953 Schmidt 222-394 213,161 1/1961 Amma- 2,682,977 7/1954 Spiess et a1 222-394 2,703,665 3/1955 Sofier et a1 222-394 10 RAPHAEL LUPO Emmme" 2,704,622 3/1955 Sofler 25193 X 

4. SEATING MEANS FOR SEATING A FIRST MEMBER WITH RESPECT TO A SECOND MEMBER; SAID FIRST MEMBER HAVING MEANS DEFINING A FLAT BEARING SURFACE; SAID SECOND MEMBER HAVING A COLLAR HAVING AN END EDGE ADAPTED TO SEAT AGAINST SAID FLAT BEARING SURFACE; MEANS FOR RETAINING SAID COLLAR SEATED AGAINST SAID FLAT BEARING SURFACE; A RESILIENT ANNULUS CARRIED BY SAID EDGE OF SAID COLLAR; SAID ANNULUS HAVING A NECK PORTION PROJECTING INTO SAID COLLAR; AND SAID COLLAR AND SAID NECK PORTION HAVING INTERFITTING PROJECTION AND RECESS MEANS FOR RETAINING SAID ANNULUS AGAINST SAID EDGE. 